• Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a sketch about all the noises that you hear on the New York City train. I called it “Winter Symphony.” It was unlike anything I’d ever written and was super pumped to shoot it. For a year, I agonized about making this sketch a reality going from draft to draft, struggling to find the right location (Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn wanted $300/hr to shoot there!) before finally making my dream a reality. Thanks to my talented cast (Jeffrey Gurian, Anna E. Paone, Veronica Garza, Joe Gorman, Steve Girard, Joan Kaufman, Jay Welch and Myles Toe) and crew (Kate Nahvi, Matthew Tenenbaum, Matthew Benjamin and a girl named Julia who showed up to help), it’s finally here! This is my first foray into musical sketch and I’m really proud of it. The thing is only 2 minutes and 16 seconds and it would be my dream come true if you watched the whole thing. Leaving a comment and subscribing to my channel as grossly Millennial as that sounds would be the nicest thing in the world you could do. In fact, if you do, I’ll subscribe right back to yours or do some social media favor for you! Just tell me where you need to be followed and I’m on it. Anyway, you can find the link in the comments. Please view!
• Well, other than my sketch I’ve been editing (see above), I’ve watched a nice little batch of comedy things on streaming platforms this week. Here are my reviews, whether or not I think it’s worth your time and where you can stream said content:
Norm MacDonald Has A Show: This freewheeling, lo-fi, refreshingly candid 30-minute “talk show” was panned when it came out as only for “Norm fans.” Well, I’m a Norm fan. I bet you are too. And I loved every second of it. Each of the ten episodes are basically the same. Norm and his trusty sidekick Adam Eget enter with the guest from offstage and grab Red Bulls from the fridge. Norm says whatever comes to his mind, interrupts the guest, forces them to tell intentionally corny jokes his staff wrote and finishes by singing a Rat Pack-style crooner ditty to sign off. But it’s so much more than that. He talks to Judge Judy about her dog. Being intentionally mean to David Spade. Hitting on Jane Fonda. Behind the scenes SNL stories with Lorne Michaels. Michael Keaton performing old stand up of his. It’s even more offbeat than a podcast but somehow has a budget of $2,000,000.00 an episode. Allegedly. Who knows with Norm. I can’t RECOMMEND this enough. If you love Episode One, you’ll love the whole thing (Streaming on Netflix).
Plus One: The mainstream comedy feature film has been in a bit of a rough patch. We had a boom from the 90s to the late 00s but it’s hard for a little rom-com make a splash in 2020. This one didn’t get much fanfare but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be on your radar. Released in April 2019 in just a few theaters and then dumped unceremoniously on Hulu, this movie delivers. Essentially, it’s about two mismatched single friends (Maya Erskine from “Pen 15” and Jack Quaid from...Dennis Quaid. It’s his son) who have a ton of weddings to attend and no one to go with. They decide to be each other’s plus ones for like ten weddings. Sounds standard enough, right (and expensive; attending weddings is not cheap)? Well, it is BUT is incredibly funny. They make fun of every kind of wedding toast you’ve ever heard and skewer the wedding industry inside and out. The two leads have a strange chemistry that I never truly bought as romance but found endearing. While we’re in the January movie doldrums (if you’ve caught up on all the Awards contenders that is), check this out on Hulu because I am RECOMMENDING, dawg.
Mel Brooks (Unwrapped): While scrolling, I came across this 70-minute documentary and immediately turned it on. It’s a really strange portrait of Brooks in that it was supposed to be released in the 1980s and features a ton of footage of him goofing around for this doc back then. Yes, it’s fan service (I still can’t get enough of clips of the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” routine from “Young Frankenstein”) but if you’re a hardcore fan, it’s great to see all of his achievements back to back. Dude did SO much. He might be the most important living figure in comedy and you should pay your respects. I am very happy to RECOMMEND (Streaming on HBOGo).
Dan Soder’s “Son of Gary:” I don’t know why but I went into this Soder special with low expectations. Seen him live a bunch of times in the City and he’s always been so funny but I watched this right after the Mel Brooks doc and I didn’t think it would have the same comedic gravitas. Well, I am happy to report that I was very wrong. Dan goes super deep talking about his Father’s death, L’il Wayne lyrics (not even in a hacky comic dissecting rapper lyrics way either), being raised by a single Mom and edibles in a super real way that was disarmingly funny. Really happy I saw this and I definitely RECOMMEND (Streaming on HBOGo).
The Degenerates Season Two: This was kind of a mixed bag. For six episodes you see B-list comics (sorry but it’s true) doing semi-dirty stuff for 15-22 minutes. Jim Norton does his entire set on Ted Bundy docs which feels outdated already, Ms. Pat delivers her shtick about being a sexually active grandma which is a step up, Robert Kelly kills it talking about his wife fantasizing about him (he should be as big a deal as Burr I think), Nikki Glaser was fantastic with new material already after her special about being on “Dancing with the Stars” and how hard it is to date which she somehow makes all her own, Donnell Rawlings is easily the best performer here doing his entire set devoted to ripping on “Old Town Road” but the jokes aren’t quite as strong as the others and the whole thing is headlined by the best set by far which was Adrienne Iapalucci. She’s one of those quiet comics with more to say than anyone else. Her take on R. Kelly and Michael Jackson was honestly the most inspired I’ve ever seen. I PARTIALLY RECOMMEND this series (Streaming on Netflix).
The 77th Annual Golden Globes: Say what you will about Ricky Gervais being hypocritical but he did his damn thing. I loved his “I don’t care” attitude. He was practically screaming, “CANCEL ME.” It was a nice change of pace. Otherwise, it was kind of painful to watch celebrities read cue cards. Stellan Skarsgaard’s speech was hilarious though. Everything else was more on the long and/or heartwarming side. Realized I am reaching an age where I don’t like Tarantino as a person though. Never thought that would happen.
• Did two shows this week. The first was a banger called “Who Books This” at Offsides Tavern hosted by Lauren Culp and Kristin Seltman. If you don’t know Offsides Tavern, you may know it as formerly Bunga’s Den. I actually haven’t been there since Bunga’s closed and loved it. The space has changed and is way more conducive for comedy now. Had a bit of a weird set that night too. I mean, I know you shouldn’t do material you wrote on the train but it felt so much better to not just do a normal set for once. Then I didn’t do any other comedy until Monday since I was looking for jobs all week and Sugarburg cancelled our show this week due to a last-minute company holiday party. So, on Monday, I did my second show at the Grisly Pear. The show is called Hobo Cop and expertly run by Candyce Cook. Love how much of a well-oiled machine the Pear is now. Candyce ran the show incredibly smoothly and the stacked lineup made a room full of tourists from Nashville, the UK, Phoenix (!) and Jersey come together to enjoy a nice, late night show.
• Don’t have any comedy things planned for this coming week. I am heading to Phoenix for a family emergency and should be there until Tuesday. Don’t know if I’ll have time to hang but hit me up! I just might. If you’re in the City, still go to FREE FRIES on Sunday. Veronica will be holding down the fort.
You made it to the end. If you watch my sketch and subscribe to the YouTube channel, I’ll like any post, anything on IG or Twitter you want. Just tell me and it’s done.
